Because when you have a boss who is constantly generating meetings instead of solving the problem itself, he or she can overload half the staff.
Yes, this happened to me in one company.
That’s why I hardly saw anyone for the first 2 weeks on a project, due to the fact that everyone was sitting in meetings.
So I quantified the meetings and the figure of 400k EUR in costs per year shocked the management. And suddenly change was possible.
Here are 10 tips about the meetings:
1) Consider whether a meeting is necessary e.g. can’t be solved by a clear directive or task directly to someone specific? Don’t create meetings for meeting’s sake.
2) If so, determine the minimum number of people necessary – 1 representative from the department. I’ve experienced people wanting to come and all the people for a department because they weren’t passing on information.
3) Make the meetings short – a quick summary of what happened and what needs to be done. Keep the bullshit to yourself.
4) Send out an invitation with the agenda in advance, with what needs to be prepared in advance and what the output will be.
5) Timer – calculate the cost of the meeting – with Euros jumping in front of attendees‘ eyes every second, they didn’t feel like blabbing.
6) Discuss and agree the rules. One person speaks, respect for others, 0,5 EUR per minute for late arrival, and then use it to buy ice cream for the team.
7) The leader is key and should lead the meeting and not just let it drift.
8) Start and finish on time – this shows respect for others.
9) Don’t schedule whole times e.g. 60 and 30 min. Ideal e.g. 20 or 50, so that participants have time to relax (POMODORO) and not worry about not making the next meeting on time.
10) And above all, HAVE FUN. Even a meeting can be beneficial and entertain people.
I’m sure there are more of these tips. I have highlighted the main ones for me. If you have other ideas, please email me others that work for you.